Tailor-made Ferrari's bring out the 'bold'

Ferrari has set a new standard for personalisation with the launch of Ferrari Tailor Made which enables Ferrari owners to create a bespoke Ferrari as never before, guided by their own Personal Designer to use materials rarely, if ever seen in cars, new combinations of colours and with detailing handcrafted for each owner that will be a clear expression of their own unique personalities and tastes.

The Tailor-Made programme takes to a new level a longstanding Maranello tradition which began in the 1950s and 60s, a time when clients personalised their cars as a matter of course and enjoyed huge freedom when it came to materials, colours and finish.

The results were genuinely unique cars tailored to suit the desires of each individual owner.

That prestigious past has now been revived through a programme that permits owners to specify every last detail of their Ferrari, from the exterior livery colour to the cabin trim, via a completely unprecedented choice of finishes, accessories, materials, treatments and colours.

Produced by ongoing research and development by the Ferrari Styling Centre, working alongside the design and development of new models, Ferrari Tailor-Made takes its inspiration from the company's core values of innovation, elegance and passion.

The client's personal wishes and aspirations lie at the very heart of the Tailor-Made Programme.

Owners are assisted and guided through the selection process by their own Personal Designer who is charged with guaranteeing that the resulting cars are both unique and consistent with the Ferrari brand and its tradition. Once the car's details have been defined, the client can then track all of the various processes involved in its creation, right up until they take delivery.

Creativity, research, original materials, superb craftsmanship and attention to detail are the cornerstones of the Tailor-Made programme which offers three collections inspired directly by Ferrari's DNA: Scuderia, Classica and Inedita.

Scuderia takes its inspiration from Ferrari's sporting history, offering a choice of racing-derived materials, finishes and liveries. The Classica collection, on the other hand, provides a modern twist on the styling cues and features of Maranello's iconic GTs. Lastly, Inedita - 'unprecedented' in Italian - lives up to its name by introducing an element of experimentation and innovation in terms of styling, colours and materials.

Clients are given enormous freedom in their decision making, being able to select everything from traditional and luxury materials, of the likes of cashmere, to fashion-driven or iconic materials such as denim, and high-tech, innovative carbon-fibre, available to them. This allows clients to achieve a level of exclusivity that's absolutely unprecedented in the automotive sector. In fact, this is the first time many of the materials offered have been adopted and homologated for use in cars.

Clients are invited to Maranello as part of the Tailor-Made programme. There they will find a dedicated area that looks and feels very much like an haute couture studio with a huge array of samples of materials, treatments and colours to browse. There is also a material scanner that will provide owners with a preview of the final result in virtual reality.

THE TAILOR-MADE COLLECTIONS

Maximum performance, tradition, innovation. These are the Ferrari brand core values that underpin all three collections created by the Styling Centre to inspire clients interested in the Tailor-Made programme. Scuderia, Classica and Inedita are the three different "worlds" from which to choose to create bespoke Ferraris through unique combinations of the many options available.

Guided and advised by their Personal Designer, new owners may make their selections from the collections to reflect their own personal tastes. They are also welcome to suggest innovative, new solutions and materials which the Styling Centre will then assess for compatibility and suitability for automotive use.

Scuderia

Racing has always been the lifeblood of Ferrari which has enjoyed unparalleled success on the world's circuits since its earliest days. The Scuderia collection is therefore very much homage to the track, a fact reflected in the materials and finishes it includes. The list of options in the Scuderia collection ranges all the way from carbon-fibre trim to technical fabrics, chamois and rubberised leather, Alcantara, microfibres, Kevlar, satin-finish and matte metals. Clients can work with the Scuderia collection to ensure their Ferraris epitomise the very pinnacle of sportiness.

The 250 Testa Rossa, which sold at auction at Pebble Beach in August 2011 for a record $16.4 million, provided the inspiration for the 458 Spider sporting blue and white NART stripes over an historic Rosso Racing body colour. The latter's seats are upholstered in the same leather used in the Formula 1 cars of the past - a trim that's light, breathable and feels very much like chamois leather to the touch. The original 250 Testa Rossa had an aluminium dashboard which has now been given a innovative twist in the form of Alutex, an extremely tough, light fibreglass and aluminium material. The cabin is also trimmed with a diamond-quilted fabric inspired by the original Testa Rossa motif.

Classica

In the Classica collection, the styling cues and features of Maranello's iconic GTs are given a more modern yet still classic look, through the use of the latest materials and production techniques. Elegant pastel colours of the past; the use of vintage leather, or wool, cashmere or velvet; special treatments for the hard areas of the cabin to match the exterior; chromed elements, stitching details and more natural leathers - these are just some of the options available from this collection.

Another icon that's been given a modern reworking in the Classic collection is the FF inspired by the 250 Europa: it has three-layer Ingrid silver paintwork with dark grey sills and rims. The cabin is a hymn to classicism with a few unusual flourishes mixed in: pinstripe cloth and dark brown semi-aniline leather seats, cashmere roof lining, grey carpet mats, interior trim inserts in the same colour as the exterior, teak-trimmed boot. The overall result is a sublimely classic atmosphere harking back to the original 250 Europa without detracting in any way from its uniqueness and elegance.

Inedita

Inedita does exactly what its name suggests: it introduces novel, innovative styling cues which nonetheless respect the marque's core values. This is the most experimental of the three collections and we feel it may well give rise to some of the classic trims and finishes of the future. Denim, bold leather upholstery, suit fabrics and technical fabrics are just a few of the innovative and intriguing options available to owners who choose to personalise their cars from the Inedita collection.

The denim-trimmed Ferrari California is a good example of what the collection offers: pale blue leather alternates with denim trim in certain areas of the cabin and seats as well as on the door panels and lower part of the dash. The areas of the cabin normally trimmed in aluminium are now dark blue carbon-fibre. The car sports a Blu Scozia livery, a historic Ferrari colour here given an all-new matte finish. The wheel rims are unusual too as their external surface is dark blue while the inside is pale blue in a nod to the contrast seen in the cockpit. A proposal that, from a point of view of styling, really does push the boundaries and sets a new benchmark in the automotive sector today.